Funded by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) poses a pervasive public health concern, affecting at least one in five women over their lifetimes. In light of the prevalent nature of IPV, researchers must prioritize identifying factors that either contribute to or alleviate negative health outcomes for survivors. One mental health outcome that has received limited research attention among civilian populations is moral injury, defined as distress stemming from exposure to events that transgress one’s moral beliefs. The objective of this research is to evaluate relationships between IPV victimization frequency/severity and moral injury, as well as the impact of resilience systems and moral identity in this relationship. By enhancing our understanding of mental health symptomatology following IPV victimization, clinicians can implement interventions tailored to reinforce protective factors (e.g., internal resilience; seeking social support) and reduce the impact of moral injury on survivors.

Led by Adrian Ivan Kakinda, PhD candidate.

A mixed-methods research programme funded by the African Doctoral Fellowship Scheme, University of Dundee.

Recent projects (2024 onward):

Kowalski, C. M., Plouffe, R. A., Trahair, C., & Saklofske, D. H. (revise & resubmit). The relationships between facets of emotional intelligence and facets of the Dark Triad. International Journal of Psychology.

Kowalski, C. M., Plouffe, R. A., Daljeet, K., Johnson, L. K., Trahair, C., & Malesza, M. (revise & resubmit). Self-report and behavioural procrastination in relation to the Dark Triad traits. International Journal of Psychology.

Kowalski, C. M., Plouffe, R. A., Daljeet, K., Trahair, C., Johnson, L. K., Saklofske, D. H., & Schermer, J. A. (2024). A multi-study investigation assessing the potential redundancy among the Dark Tetrad using a narrowband trait approach. Scientific Reports, 14, 17433. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-67952-4

Recent projects (2024 onward):

Ein, N., Plouffe, R. A., Houle, S. A., Birch, M., Thompson, M., Bélanger, S., Richardson, J. D., & Nazarov, A. (revise & resubmit). Psychometric validation of the French version of the Moral Injury  Outcome Scale (MIOS). Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.

Plouffe, R. A., Houle, S. A., Nazarov, A., & Richardson, J. D. (2025). Validation of the Moral Injury Outcome Scale in Canadian health care workers. Psychological Assessment. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pas0001386

Blötner, C., Dinić, B. M., Denovan, A., Dagnall, N., Krstić, P., Papageorgiou, K. A., Trahair, C., & Plouffe, R. A. (2024). The Machiavellian Approach and Avoidance Questionnaire: Further validation and evidence of cross-national validity. Journal of Personality Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2024.2431123

Denovan, A., Plouffe, R. A., Dagnall, N., Artamonova, E., Kowalski, C. M., & Saklofske, D. H. (2024). Dark Triad, Dyad, or Core? A psychometric evaluation of the Short Dark Triad (SD3) across three countries. Current Psychology, 43, 36086–36103. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-07030-0

Houle, S., Ein, N., Gervasio, J., Plouffe, R. A., Litz, B. T., Carleton, R. N., Hansen, K., Liu, J. J. W., Ashbaugh, A. R., Callaghan, W., Thompson, M., Easterbrook, B., Smith-MacDonald, L., Rodrigues, S., Belanger, S., Bright, K., Lanius, R., Baker, C., Younger, W., Brémault-Phillips, S., Hosseiny, F., & Richardson, J. D., Nazarov, A. and the Atlas Institute Moral Injury Research Community of Practice. (2024). Measuring moral distress and moral injury: A systematic review and content analysis of existing scales. Clinical Psychology Review, 108, 102377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2023.102377